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17 day Itinerary - April Osaka Round trip - Regional Pass or Japan Rail Pass??

TeamTrek
TeamTrek
20 days ago
1 answer

Hello! We are a family of 4 (one child and three adults) We plan to travel around Japan, visiting castles, temples, shrines and gardens, theme parks, Mount Fuji and many other attractions. We have booked all of our accommodation and theme park tickets in advance and wish to keep our itinerary fixed.
We’re considering the 3-day Hakone Free Pass for our Mount Fuji visit. While staying near Tokyo Bay, we’ll have a free shuttle with our motel to Disneyland and DisneySea. We’re also quite fit and enjoy walking around and exploring, as well as taking trains. Based on this, which type of Japan Rail Pass or other pass would be the most suitable for our trip taking into account cost as well as ease of travel? We are aware that Golden Week and Showa Day are towards the end of our trip, so we want to make sure we can reserve seats on trains. Can you purchase regional pass ahead and reserve seats? Any recommendations and tips for traveling during Golden Week would also be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help!

Monday, April 14: Arrive in Osaka 7pm (Limo Bus? from KIX to Osaka Universal Hotel )
Tuesday, April 15: Stay in Osaka
Wednesday, April 16: Stay in Osaka - Universal Studios Hotel
Thursday, April 17: Travel to Kyoto, stay in Kyoto
Friday, April 18: Stay in Kyoto
Saturday, April 19: Stay in Kyoto
Sunday, April 20: Travel to Odawara, stay in Odawara
Monday, April 21: Travel to Mount Fuji, stay near Mount Fuji
Tuesday, April 22: Stay near Mount Fuji
Wednesday, April 23: Teamlabs - Travel to Tokyo Bay, stay in Tokyo Bay Area
Thursday, April 24: Stay in Tokyo Bay Area - Disney Sea
Friday, April 25: Stay in Tokyo Bay Area - Disneyland
Saturday, April 26: Travel to Himeji, stay in Himeji
Sunday, April 27: Travel to Miyajima Island, stay in Miyajima Island
Monday, April 28: Travel to Hiroshima, stay in Hiroshima
Tuesday, April 29: Travel to Nara, stay in Nara
Wednesday, April 30: Travel to Osaka, flight departs 10pm

avatar
Daniel-san
18959 posts
10 days ago
Expert

Hi there,

I've reviewed your trip for the best pass options and think the best option would be to buy normal rail tickets up to the day that you travel to Himeji. Then use a Kansai - Hiroshima Area Pass for travel to Himeji, Hiroshima and back to Nara/Osaka. Note that you would still have to buy a normal ticket from Tokyo - Osaka, and then use the pass from there to Himeji but this would be the best option in terms of money savings.

If convenience is your number one priority, then I would recommend using a 14-day JR Pass and use it to cover all your longer distance trips.

Seat reservations can be made once you are in Japan and have activated the pass. For travel during Golden Week and other national holidays, we recommend doing so 3-5 days ahead of time. Since these are near the end of your trip, I don't think you'll have any issue getting seating together.

Kind regards,
Daniel


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